


Faded: Golden Era

by jessiharmnoir



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hollywood, Original Fiction, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:55:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28739829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessiharmnoir/pseuds/jessiharmnoir
Summary: This is inspired in part by a sad story of one of my favorite golden era actresses final roles and days fading from the limelight. The inspiration also comes at the end of writing Vera Keyes tragic end in my previous work and a desire to stay on theme. The tragic faded starlet from the golden era is a story I have always loved.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character





	Faded: Golden Era

"Turn off the lights," she calls to the man fifteen years her junior from across the hotel suite. Her voice is mature but soft with light gravel from years of smoking mixed with age. It doesn't matter. In her 50s, he can see the Goddess that he adored over twenty years before, long before he dreamed of his own Hollywood career. He can see her as she once was, the vibrant and youthful starlet, under the candles' warm glow.

He does as she asks while she walks around, opening the shutters and lettings in the moonlight, the evening breeze, and the soft hum of the bustling nightlife a few stories below. A few moments later, she enters the room with the last of the candles, a bottle of wine, and two glasses. They perch up by the window in an informal sort of fashion, and she talks of her past.   
"Oh, I couldn't stand him. Never showed up on time", "...she was a doll, a little young and naïve but a lot of talent", "...he was an arrogant sort of man but the most talented dancer I ever worked with...", "...the ladies just loved him, but they had no idea what a terrible lover he was..." she laughs to herself as she regals him with stories from the height of her career which ended decades before.   
Eventually, her laugh and eyes trail off. "There were always people around..." she says. "... lawyers, agents, hopeful lovers. Where did they all go?" she asks more to herself than to him. She looks down to her drink only for a moment, but at this angle, the light changes her face. She looks older, tired, and maybe even a little sad. For the first time, he saw a glimpse of the faded aging starlet she had become. She knew that he was watching and teased,   
"No need for starting, Johnnie. You can see me in the pictures."

Several years past the height of her career, she occasionally gets a role tossed her way, mostly from old friends and lovers, whether it be for sentimental reasons or perhaps pity. Still, due to age and drinking, she had been marked as practically unemployable. She had a hard time remembering her lines, and her lifestyle had done an early number to her face. Still, there was something special about her. This young man, Johnnie, she called him, which wasn't his real, was picked by her early on to be her companion during filming. He was a new face—fresh young blood at the beginning of a booming career.

Working with her was difficult. They were continuously retouching her makeup, the director makes insensitive comments while yelling at one of the crew to 'learn to light older women,' and she can't perform without a drink. She doesn't get drunk, but the amount of liquid courage she needs is enough to impede her memory, and they usually had to film several takes. The movie is behind on its production schedule because she's always late. He feels for her because he can see the fear. He can see her struggle. Each time she nails a take, she beams, but every time she stumbles, her anxiety comes to the surface.   
They leave the set each night, and Johnnie makes his way to her suite. They have dinner, drinks, and talk. Sometimes she needs more, and he is happy to be whatever she needs him to be. Some nights she is very present, and others, she seems distant. Johnnie could see several demons under the surface but accepted he may never know all their names.   
"Another drink?" she asks as she pulls herself out of her momentary slump. She lifts the wine bottle high in the air and tosses her head back with a playful smile like she had done in a scene from her most iconic feature. He holds out his glass, and she tops it off. "Stay with me tonight, Johnnie," she says in a voice reminiscent of her former self. Even tonight, in this room, she was still playing a part. The femme fatale. The Goddess. 

He stays with her that night and many others, but as filming wraps, he grows distant. Her voice echoes in his head, "you wouldn't leave me, would you, Johnnie?" A promise he made that he knew he couldn't keep. "Of course not," he says as he kisses her goodbye and helps her in her taxi as they head for their respective homes. 

That was the last he ever saw of her. The movie was a flop, and it was the last film she ever starred in. She had a few magazine covers, talk show appearances, and background roles, but eventually, she faded out of the limelight altogether. As time went on, she even faded from his memory. His career took off, and he kept busy. It wasn't until years later, as he grabs a newspaper he sees the headline. 'Famous Hollywood Actress Found Dead In Her Home.' She was young. Barely 60. He pauses and thinks about those moments under the candlelight in the window. He can see her face. The Goddess. The idea of the woman they both wanted to cling to, but also glimpses of the aging actress she became. He remembers her stories and feels a little guilty. Like many others in her life, he wanted the characters she was known for playing and not the woman herself.  
  
Her light on the world's stage slowly dimmed until it went out completely. The Goddess lives on in old magazine covers, collectible movie posters, and feature films that with each passing generation become more and more obscure. She's remembered for the roles she played but never seen for the woman she was. Those who knew her eventually started to pass away until Johnnie was the only one left, and when he died, he took with him the final fragments of who she 'really' was to the grave. 


End file.
